One of London’s most prestigious hotels was today bought by the Qataris for more than £400 million.

The five-star, 13-storey InterContinental London Park Lane was only officially put on the market last month, but after attracting interest “from a number of investors” has been sold for £301.5 million to Constellation Hotels, which is ultimately owned by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund.

The Qataris are also understood to have bought the freehold for around £100 million from the Crown Estate.

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), which has transformed itself from a hotel owner to a hotel manager over the last decade, will continue to run the Park Lane hotel for the next 30 years with a further three, 10-year extension options.

The sale price was much higher than most analysts had expected, with most forecasting around £250 million.

Richard Solomons, chief executive of IHG, said: “When you talk about selling a trophy asset like Park Lane people pick up the phone quite quickly. It’s a good price for both parties for a 57-year leasehold. It also highlights both the value of assets on our balance sheet and also the value of InterContinental as one of the world’s leading luxury hotel brands.”